As Issued

[klaus 3338]

We have in German archives all the documents to answer your questions.
During the Imperial time must the officers buy their own weapons! They could buy all side arms. Important was that the holster should look like the Luger holsters. Officers were offered to buy the P08 for a special prize from the Gewehrfabrik (gun factory) Erfurt. Thousands of DWM Lugers with the 5 digit serial number were issued to the officers during the Great War and the Years before the war.

Issued for the other Army "users" were the P08 with two magazines and the tool. These items were sent to the Artillery Depots. The holsters for the Luger were bought by the Bekleidungsämter (clothing depots) of the different Army Corps.

One cleaning rod came from the DWM for 6 Lugers and was sent to the Artillery Depots.

Each regiment got their portion of Lugers with the magazines, the tool and the cleaning rod from the Artillery Depots and the holsters came from the Bekleidungs Ämter. It seems that this changed late in the war.

There were no Lugers issued to the Police during the Imperial time.

My English is terrible but I hope I could help to answer your question.

Best regards from Germany
Klaus

[Don M]

Originally Posted by klaus 3338

There were no Lugers issued to the Police during the Imperial time.

However, Lugers were issued to the Imperial-era Reichsgendarmerie in Elsaß-Lothringen and the Gendarmerien of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Hessen and perhaps others. While these were not strictly speaking "police," they are often considered so.